


make it simple

by skatingsplits



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Pointless fluff, Space Wives, i'm weak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 16:52:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16309025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skatingsplits/pseuds/skatingsplits
Summary: When River Song had woken up that morning, she hadn't anticipated anything more exciting happening than the delivery of a new book on gravedigging. So, when she took her usual route home, coat pulled tight around her against the cool of the evening, and spotted a gloriously familiar blue box, she was really quite surprised.





	make it simple

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've written for this fandom since approximately 2012, please be gentle. I just couldn't resist the lure of Space Wives. All mistakes are completely mine!

  
When River Song had woken up that morning, she hadn't anticipated anything more exciting happening than the delivery of a new book on gravedigging. The outfit she'd squeezed into that morning wasn't entirely appropriate for teaching by most people's standards, but that was hardly unusual. She'd quickly ingested her tea and toast before running off to the first of her classes, head focused more on the contents of her forthcoming lecture than on her surroundings. On her lunch break, she'd stayed in her classroom marking papers, paying no attention whatsoever to the various crashes and bangs she could hear outside; at Lunar University, it was odder if there weren't explosions and accidents on a daily basis. So, when she took her usual route home, coat pulled tight around her against the cool of the evening, and spotted a gloriously familiar blue box, River was really quite surprised.

  
The Doctor turning up for a visit wasn't out of the ordinary; he dropped in irregularly but frequently enough that she had a chipped blue mug set to one side in the cupboard and the complete works of Shakespeare, Newton and Darwin gathering dust on her bookshelves. The Doctor turning up for a visit, dumping the TARDIS in the middle of the street and not coming to see her, however, was a little more unusual. River couldn't fathom why she hadn't had a very distracting interloper turning up in her lessons, correcting her grammar and her history. As with everything River Song didn't have an answer to, however, she was determined to find out.

  
She sauntered up to the TARDIS’s front door, one hand on the blaster secreted in her jacket as she laid a hand on the beautifully familiar blue wood. Feeling the old girl thrum beneath her fingertips, River smiled a smile that was half-homecoming, half-relief. If something had really been wrong, the TARDIS would have told her instantly. Placated enough to take her hand off her hidden gun but still keeping herself alert, she pushed the door open easily and stepped inside.

  
It wasn't very often that River Song found herself speechless. It had happened before, that was true, usually on occasions when the Doctor had done something utterly incredible, she'd just come down from a mind-blowing orgasm, or (if she was lucky) some combination of the two. This occasion, however, was one she really didn't know how to categorise. The TARDIS was... different. She'd seen her faithful friend change and adjust depending on the whims of her pilot and of the ship herself, but she'd never seen it as different as this. River gazed around in wonder. The console was bathing her in a warm golden light and as she stroked a lever or two, the old girl whirred to life as she always had done. Before she had the time to speculate too much about the change, voices and footsteps sounded in a nearby corridor and River turned around, fixing a mischievous smile on her face. Whichever Doctor she was about to be faced with, it wouldn't do to let them see her astonishment at the TARDIS's new makeover. _Spoilers_ , she thought, almost automatically.

  
‘Look son, all I'm saying is, I don't think bottling it up is- bloody hell!’ the man who'd given such a surprised exclamation appeared to be human, was in late middle-age, and was accompanied by a man who was much younger and much taller but apparently equally human. Both men were staring at her as though she was a ghost and River had to admit to being almost equally surprised. She didn't recognise either of them at all, not even from photographs, and the instinct that something was wrong came creeping back over her. This wasn't exactly helped by the way that both men were looking at her as though it were a Dalek who'd been studying the TARDIS'S console and not the wife of the man they were presumably travelling with.

  
‘Who the hell are you?’ the older man said, trepidation and confusion playing out across his face. This was a question River never quite knew how to answer, so she settled for the response that seemed most likely to get the Doctor's new watchdogs to back off.

  
‘I'm the Doctor's wife. And hello to you too, by the way' if she'd thought her new acquaintances had looked shocked before, that was absolutely nothing compared to their expressions now. The older man looked like he'd just been hit by a ton of bricks and the younger one's mouth was practically hanging open on its hinges. Ignoring the slight twist in her stomach as her disloyal brain couldn't help pointing out that this meant the Doctor obviously wasn't making small talk about her, River smiled.

  
‘I understand this might come as a bit of a surprise, but I promise you it's true’ River’s usual tactic for dealing with the Doctor's companions was flirtatious levity but at the present moment, that was coming in second to her need to find out exactly what was going on. ‘And if you'd be so kind as to tell me where he is, I'm quite sure he'll be able to verify that for you himself' River was trying to be patient but the older man just shook his head again.

  
‘He? Look, I think you might have got the wrong end of the stick-' he broke off as another two figures entered the room, both female, one chattering away at nineteen to the dozen.

  
‘No, Yaz, I told you; this set was a present from Diana Vreeland, it's supposed to be for best, we can't just use it for dinner' the blonde woman only broke off her train of chatter to take in the looks of complete bewilderment on the faces of her male companions, looks that River was sure were mirrored on her own face. ‘Alright you lot, why do you both look like you've seen a ghost? Cos there really shouldn't be any in here, I did run the checks-‘ the younger man just gestured to River and the chattering stopped again while the woman turned her gaze towards her. The crash was deafening as the cardboard box in her hands smashed to the ground but the woman didn't even seem to notice, she just ran down the steps two at a time until she was close enough to fling herself into River's arms and was holding the archaeologist to her in a rib-crushing hug.

If River had been surprised before, that was nothing to what she felt now. Only one avenue seemed even remotely possible but there was no way..... River stepped backwards out of the clinging embrace, putting her hands to the woman's face so she could look into her eyes. It only took her a moment before she was absolutely sure, and she felt like someone had slapped her and kissed her all at the same time.

  
‘Oh, you are _joking_ ’ she said, still staring into the eyes of the woman that until seconds ago she had thought a stranger.

  
‘Not this time’ River's wife was beaming, her smile wide and completely gleeful.

  
‘But darling, how?’

  
‘Just how things turned out this time' she shrugged ‘Do you like it?’ The Doctor's smile was still wide but had gone a little nervous at the edges. River couldn't contain her own smile, her mouth curling up at the edges as her hands reached out to settle on her wife’s hips. _My wife,_ she thought, relishing the way the words sounded.

  
‘Like it? Oh, sweetie, you haven't the faintest idea' River's hands couldn't stay still but instead skated up and over the Doctor's delightful new form, caressing her hips, her ribs, fingers playing over the soft new lines of her collarbones. One hand ended up tangled in the short blonde hair, the other caressing the Doctor's lower back. River pulled her wife even closer to her, feeling the thud of four heartbeats as she used her new high ground to lean down and capture the Doctor's mouth in a kiss. She was no stranger to the sensation of a woman's lips underneath her own but this was different; this was the Doctor, which meant there were several hundred years of longing, hoping and wanting wrapped up in the soft press of their mouths. Her right hand swept through the softness of her wife’s hair and River was lost, utterly and completely. It would have taken a volcano erupting or a Sontaran blaster at her back to make her pull away but all too soon, the Doctor was pulling back and bringing her thumbs up to wipe away tears River didn't even know she'd let spill from her eyes.

  
‘Hello sweetie' they were words River had said and heard a million times but in this frankly adorable accent coming from those kiss-flushed lips, it was like she was hearing them for the first time. If she'd thought she could kiss the Doctor forever, she felt fairly sure that she could just stand and stare at her for equally as long. This plan of action was interrupted, however, by a very irritated cough from the group of people still standing on the balcony.

  
‘Doctor, don't want to interrupt, but it would be great if you could tell us what was going on' this came from the woman (Yaz, she thought the Doctor had said), who was standing with her arms crossed and a slightly scandalized expression on her face. The men next to her both looked a hundred times more confused than they had a few minutes ago and the older one had his hand over his face as though he'd been covering his eyes which, River had to admit, she couldn't exactly blame him for.

  
‘Yes, sorry, context’ the Doctor turned to face her companions as she spoke but kept her arms tight about River's waist, manoeuvring herself behind to rest her head on her shoulder while she talked ‘Well- Yaz, Ryan, Graham, this is my wife, River Song. Doctor River Song, actually'

  
‘Professor, sweetie, if you don't mind' River interjected, earning herself a tight squeeze on the hips.

  
‘So sorry, Professor River Song. And River, these are my new best friends; Graham, Ryan and Yaz. Yaz is the girl one, Ryan is the young one, Graham is the other one' River smiled fondly at this distracted introduction, reaching a hand behind her to caress her wife's hip.

  
‘Very nice to meet you all' the abject confusion on all their faces was frankly hilarious but she forged on ahead ‘So sorry for just dropping by; time travel doesn't really allow for much forewarning'

  
‘But you'd better get used to it' the Doctor chimed in and River pivoted around to press another, briefer kiss to her lips.

  
‘Speaking of getting used to things... I don't suppose you have a spare five minutes?’ River let the implications of that suggestion hang in the air for a moment until the Doctor wrinkled her nose derisively.

  
‘ _Five minutes_? Not bloody likely, River Song, you'd better not have any evening plans' with that, the Doctor grabbed River's hand and set off at a running pace in a direction that, despite the redecoration, she remembered perfectly well led to the bedroom.

  
‘Doctor!’ the young woman exclaimed, wheeling around as the Doctor gave her companions a friendly wave over her shoulder.

  
‘Don't do anything I wouldn't do!’ With that cheerful piece of advice, she dragged River out of sight, and they didn't quite make it all the way to their destination before River had made sure that this body had gotten quite used to all the advantages of having found one's wife again. 

**Author's Note:**

> more ficlets, drabbles and headcanons can be found on Tumblr at cassandramortmain!


End file.
